Byron Preiss (1953, Brooklyn, New York City — July 9, 2005, East Hampton, New York) was an American writer, editor, and publisher. He founded and served as president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications, and later of iBooks.
Byron Preiss graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, and earned a master's degree in communications from Stanford Film School.
In 1971, while Preiss was teaching at a Philadelphia elementary school, he conceived and with Jim Steranko produced an anti-drug comic book, The Block, designed for low-level reading skills. Published by Steranko's company, Supergraphics, it was distributed to schools nationwide
He founded Byron Preiss Visual Publications in 1974 to publish original works, including Weird Heroes (1975). His 1976 Fiction Illustrated series of illustrated novels began with Schlomo Raven: Public Detective, a Preiss collaboration with Tom Sutton, followed by Starfawn, illustrated by Stephen Fabian, Steranko's Red Tide and the 1977 Son of Sherlock Holmes, illustrated by Ralph Reese. Other publications included a 1978 adaptation of Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination as a two-volume graphic novel, illustrated by Howard Chaykin.
Publishing career
As a book packager, he developed titles for such publishers as HarperCollins and Random House. One such project, created in conjunction with the Bank Street College of Education, resulted in a series of educational comic books adapting well-known genre authors: The Bank Street Book of Creepy Tales, The Bank Street Book of Fantasy, The Bank Street Book of Mystery and The Bank Street Book of Science Fiction.
He published children's books by celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Jane Goodall, Jay Leno, LeAnn Rimes and Jerry Seinfeld, and worked closely with such established illustrators as Ralph Reese, William Stout and Tom Sutton.
Preiss was co-author, with Michael Reaves, of the children's novel Dragonworld (Doubleday, 1979), with 80 illustrations by Joseph Zucker. Dragonworld was originally planned to be the fifth "Fiction Illustrated" title.
Beyond traditional printed books, Preiss frequently embraced emerging technologies, and was among the first to publish in such electronic forms as CD-ROM books and ebooks. The Words of Gandhi, an audio book he produced, won a Grammy Award in 1985.
Both Byron Preiss Visual Publications and iBooks filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on February 22, 2006, after his death.
Later Life and Death
Preiss lived in Manhattan with his wife Sandi Mendelson and their daughters Karah and Blaire. On July 9, 2005, he died in a traffic accident while driving to his synagogue in Long Island, New York.
Published by Preiss, or packaged by Preiss for other publishers
The Electric Company Joke Book (1973) ISBN 0-307-64824-9
The Silent e's from Outer Space (Western Pub., 1973; Goldencraft, 1974 ISBN 0-307-64821-4)
One Year Affair (1976) ISBN 0-911104-86-0
Weird Heroes (Pyramid Books, 1975—77)
:Vol. 1 (ISBN 0-515-03746-X) to Vol. 8 (ISBN 0-515-04257-9); collections of illustrated, pulp-inspired stories
Fiction Illustrated #1 ... Schlomo Raven: Public Detective ((Pyramid Books, 1976; by Preiss and Tom Sutton)
Fiction Illustrated #2 ... Starfawn (Pyramid Books, 1976; by Preiss and Stephen Fabian)
Fiction Illustrated #3 ... Red Tide (Pyramid Books, 1976 ISBN 0-515-04241-2; Dark Horse, 2001 ISBN 1-56971-438-X)
Fiction Illustrated #4 ... Son of Sherlock Holmes (Pyramid Books, 1977; by Preiss and Ralph Reese)
The Beach Boys (1979; revised ed. 1983 ISBN 0-312-07026-8)
The Art of Leo and Diane Dillon (1981) ISBN 0-345-28449-6
The Dinosaurs (1981; revised 2000 as The New Dinosaurs)
The Secret (1982) ISBN 0-553-01408-0 - illustrated by John Jude Palencar
The First Crazy Word Book: Verbs (1982) ISBN 0-531-04500-5
The Little Blue Brontosaurus (1983) ISBN 0-89845-165-5
Not the Webster's Dictionary (1983) ISBN 0-671-47418-9
The Bat Family (1984) ISBN 0-89845-237-6
Time Machine 1 ... Secret of the Knights (Bantam Books, 1984; by Jim Gasperini, illustrated by Richard Hescox) ISBN 0-553-23601-6
Nuts! (1985) ISBN 0-553-24725-5
The Planets (1985) ISBN 0-553-05109-1
The Universe (1987) ISBN 0-553-05227-6
Time Machine 19 ... The Death Mask of Pancho Villa (Bantam Books, 1987; by Carol Gaskin and George Guthridge, illustrated by Kenneth Huey, cover by Jim Steranko) ISBN 0-553-26674-8
Dragonsword, 1st edition (1988) ISBN 1-558-02003-9
The Microverse (1989) ISBN 0-553-05705-7
First Contact: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (1990) ISBN 0-7472-3508-2
The Ultimate Dracula (1991) ISBN 0-7472-0552-3
The Ultimate Frankenstein (1991) ISBN 0-440-50352-3
The Ultimate Werewolf (1991 reissue ISBN 0-440-50354-X)
The Ultimate Dinosaur: Past, Present, and Future (1992) ISBN 0-553-07676-0
The Vampire State Building (1992) ISBN 0-553-15998-4
The Ultimate Zombie (1993) ISBN 0-440-50534-8
The Ultimate Witch (1993) ISBN 0-440-50531-3
The Ultimate Dragon (1995) ISBN 0-440-50630-1
The Ultimate Alien (1995) ISBN 0-440-50631-X
The Best Children's Books in the World (1996) ISBN 0-8109-1246-5
The Rhino History of Rock 'n' Roll: The '70s (1997) ISBN 0-671-01175-8
Are We Alone in the Cosmos? The Search for Alien Contact in the New Millennium (1999) ISBN 0-671-03892-3
The New Dinosaurs (2000) ISBN 0-7434-0724-5
The Roadkill of Middle Earth (2001) by John Carnell, illustrated by Tom Sutton, cover by Steve Fastner and Rich Larson. ISBN 0-7434-3467-6
Dying Inside (2002) ISBN 0-7434-3508-7
The Ultimate Dragon (2003) ISBN 0-7434-5868-0
The Best Bizarre But True Stories Ever! (2003) ISBN 0-7434-4557-3
Exploring The Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present (2004) ISBN 0-312-31359-4
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe (2005) ISBN 1-59687-847-9
Year's Best Graphic Novels, Comics & Manga (2005) ISBN 0-312-34326-4
